Neil Patrick Harris Joining ‘American Horror Story: Freak Show’?

From his days as Doogie Howser, M.D. to his role on the recently ended How I Met Your Mother, Neil Patrick Harris has been a welcome presence on television for years now. While his film roles have not necessarily been standouts, he recently co-starred in Seth MacFarlane’s A Million Ways to Die in the West and will play a pivotal character in David Fincher’s upcoming Gone Girl.

It’s unclear what’s next for Harris when it comes to TV, but if he has his way, he might be joining the cast of one of television’s most acclaimed – and disturbing – shows. The Wrapreports that while speaking to EW Radio, Harris said he had personally contacted Ryan Murphy, creator of American Horror Story: Freak Show,asking for a role in FX’s anthology horror series.

According to Harris:

“I wrote a letter to Ryan asking if I can be in it, even though I wasn’t even available to be in it. To do one that involves any kind of freak, circus nonsense is going to be so unsettling to watch. Can’t wait!”

As it happens, Ryan Murphy sounds open to the idea. On Friday, Murphy tweeted the following:

@ActuallyNPH of course you can be on Freak Show! I have a role I think you'd love.

The fan-made – but impressive – trailer for Freak Show aside, we’ve been getting steady official details on the popular show’s fourth season for quite some time now. Series regular Jessica Lange is once again returning, as are season 3 stars Sarah Paulson, Angela Bassett and Kathy Bates, along with Evan Peters, Denis O’Hare and new additions like Michael Chiklis.

Given the all-around talents of Neil Patrick Harris – he’s known for comedy, but he’s also a song-and-dance man, having hosted the Tony Awards (and won one in the past) and whose dramatic chops are good enough to land him a role with the famously demanding David Fincher – the actor would likely fit right in on American Horror Story.

The big question is just what role Murphy could be referring to. We know some specifics about Lange’s role as “a German ex-pat who is managing one of the last freak shows in the U.S.,” and we’ve seen that Sarah Paulson will play conjoined twins Bette and Dot, but given Freak Show‘s setting and time period, there are likely any number of freak roles available (including that of a rumored killer clown).

None of this is official by any means, and we’ve seen other thespians publicly vie for a role in AHS (such as Glee‘s Lea Michelle), but it definitely sounds like Ryan Murphy warmed to the idea of having Harris aboard. The actor claimed that he was all booked up, but stay tuned for more details.

Are you looking forward to AHS season 4, Screen Rant readers? Let us know in the comments.